For The Love of Mail

I love mail! I love packages! I love my UPS driver! I usually cause him to pause, bend over, and place his hand on his knee because he is laughing at me as I come down the driveway to meet him jumping up and down, clapping my hands, and saying "thanks for bringing me a present!" He says none of his other customers are as excited to see him as I am. He also tells David that I keep him employed!

I can't help it. There is something so exciting about getting something in the mail. Remember when you were little and you got cards for your birthday? Remember when your Grammy or Grampy wrote you little letters and included a stick of gum? Remember when your best friend from far away sent you letter's telling you all sorts of juicy secrets? What ever happened to that? When did we stop making each other feel special? When did we become so hurried that we couldn't take time to pick up a pen and write our thoughts and feelings in our own handwriting?

I started making my Quilted Keepsake Cards (available on my website) as a way to bring back the lost art of letter writing. Like Virginia Woolf said, "I like opening a letter and thinking myself loved." People have so much "stuff," but what we don't have is a little piece of heart, a simple momento from someone special. We don't have keepsakes that we can cherish that were penned in a personal handwriting. All we have is a "Delete" button.

In the March 2007 issue of Body and Soul magazine, there was this terrific article regarding bringing back the lost art of letter writing. It said, "while e-mailing wins points for speed, the sentiment behind the message often gets lost in cyber-translation (hence the need for those "LOL"s and punctuation-mark smileys). Rather than stare at a computer, why not pick up a pen and piece of paper instead? The time and thought it takes to handwrite a letter, even if only to say hi, heightens intimacy between you and your reader to a level far beyond that of a screen greeting. You afford her the old-fashioned joy of opening her mailbox and seeing a personalized script addressed to her-not to mention restore the bygone meaning of "You've got mail."

Above is a picture of one of my cards. It even has a magnet on the back so the recipient can display it and think of you everytime she looks at it. Hmmmm, there are so many people I can think of that I want to feel special. This year I took the "Handmade Pledge." Everyone I know will get a handmade card and know that I care and love them. Because, when I think about it, they are worth my time to write with a pen instead of type on a keyboard.

Until next week, hugs to you

Shell

Oh.... one more thing. I also decided to start a gratitude list. Each week I will list two things I'm grateful for. This week is SWIFFER DUSTERS (why didn't I invent these?) and HEATED CAR SEATS (aka Hiney Heaters). I'm so grateful to have these in my life.